On retrieving my iPad after reading the Religious Freedom Restoration Act

As of Thursday, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into law the Senate Bill 101, otherwise known as the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" (RFRA), which will take effect on July 1.

After hearing that the bill was passed, I took out my iPad went to https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/senate/101#, which has the exact text of this bill. After 30 minutes of reading, my iPad was flung from my hand and landed in an ungraceful manner across the room. Thankfully the $50 investment in an Otterbox proved to be worth every penny. After I dusted off my iPad and found that it had no damage, the implications of the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" once more returned to the forefront of my conscious.

On title of the bill alone, one might state freedom of religion is a good thing, and why would anyone vote against it?

The truth is legislators name bills in this broad manner which often invokes patriotic terms. The reason authors chose to use the words "religious freedom" is regardless of the contents of the bill, it looks bad politically if you were to say you voted against the freedom of religion.

Using this same logic, a bill can be entitled "The Freedom of Puppies and Kittens" bill. But, the contents of the bills could require a mandatory euthanasia of all puppies and kittens. Even though the writers of the bill used the term "freedom," the writers never specified in the title what type of freedom or whom it applies. Thus, the implications of the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" differ diametrically from its title.

For those unfamiliar with the tenets of this bill, Indianapolis Star writer Tony Cook wrote a great brief summary, "Senate Bill 101 would prevent state and local governments from 'substantially burdening' a person's exercise of religion unless the government can prove it has a compelling interest and is doing so in the least restrictive means."

As most people know the First Amendment gives all Americans the right to freedom of religion and more specifically it calls on the government to have a separation between church and state. At first glance RFRA might appear to be redundant, because as Americans, the freedom of religion is one of our inalienable rights.

When our founding fathers and namely Thomas Jefferson first devised the idea of religious freedom for our government, one of the key tenants of the proposal relied explicitly on the separation between church and state.

Jefferson believed that a wall should be placed between these institutions.

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State," said Jefferson.

After the bill will take effect on July 1, the separation between church and state will be effectively compromised, because any business owner will possess governmental protection to refuse service or employment to anyone who goes against the tenets of the business owner's religion who were "substantially burdened." The horrifying realities of this bill is that when it becomes law, it will protect business owners to discriminate against whatever population that doesn't fall under their religious beliefs. What is even more appalling is the passage on the description of the bill which states: "Prohibits an applicant, employee, or former employee from pursuing certain causes of action against a private employer." In essence, an employer will be able to fire an employee who does not share in their religious beliefs and the employee will be unable to pursue action against the employer for doing so.

This not only violates the Jeffersonian principle that government and religion are two separate entities and The Federal Civil Rights Act.

Before the signing of this bill any business owner in the United States and Indiana had the right to refuse service to anyone, but this came with caveat only in cases in which the patron is not a member of a federally protected class.

The Federal Civil Rights Act guarantees all people the right to "full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin." In terms of sexual orientation, there has been numerous cases both filed and won on the grounds that one cannot refuse service to those who are homosexual.

On October 7, 2014 Indiana legally recognized gay marriage. It comes as little consequence that in less than six months the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" has been both proposed and passed and this bill is a direct attempt by the Indiana legislature to undermine the movement.

Growing up with a religious background, I was always under the impression that good religions taught those to be accepting of all backgrounds, and at its core, teaches those be kind, or better, love one another and to not discriminate and despise others for not sharing the same beliefs as you. Good religions teach love, not exclusion.

To Governor Mike Pence, the legislative body who voted for this bill and specifically my area representative Matt Ubelhor, I am writing to let you know that your decision to sign this bill is not representative of my ideals or beliefs.

To anyone reading who lives outside of the state of Indiana, I am writing to say that the views taken in the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" is not representative of the entire population of Indiana, but falls explicitly on the majority of our governance.

Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.